Don't think this will be sitting alongside Yakuza 0 as one of my (currently 3) GOTY runners but still, it's pretty damn good. Just gotta remember that whilst it is a remake, it's a remake of the first game and not a new entry in the series like 0 was, and 6 will be. Enjoying it a lot though

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Bonus Cuphead! If the game wasn't dripping in 1930s style to begin with, there's a black & white filter you can unlock too

I have absolutely loved this game.

If you're up for a challenge, like well designed & fun boss fights with a little bit of platforming thrown in on the side - all set to a fantastic soundtrack (and that's coming from someone who doesn't generally like Jazz lol) and some incredible hand-drawn animation, go & buy Cuphead. You can tell a lot of time, effort & love went into making Cuphead & for only 15 quid, it's an indie game & developer worth supporting. Tis a beautiful game

[Side note: Should any of you have watched the previous vids I linked above, I've continued to upload my playthrough of the game's boss fights, all through to the end. Will be uploading the final 2 tonight]

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

"Perhaps this is what I have always wished for since that day. The loss and destruction of all. That's right, one must destroy before creating. In that case, if my conscience becomes a hindrance to me, then I will simply erase it. I have no other choice but to move forward....therefore!" - Lelouch vi Britannia/Zero, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch

I will be sure to check those out & share mine just as soon as I've played it! (shouldn't be long)

Very glad to hear that episode 2 has continued the same level of quality that they put out with ep1 though. Dontnod set the bar quite high with the original but Deck Nine really impressed me with ep 1. Excited to play #2

So many games coming out atm that I can hardly keep up lol. Playing South Park atm but I have The Evil Within 2 waiting, Hidden Agenda's out on Wed, AC Origins & Wolfenstein on Fri, and then CoD next week.. lol. BTS Ep 2 will be the next one I play though for sure

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Really sweet episode, and even better than the first If episode 3 takes the same amount of time as ep 2, we should be looking at the beginning of Dec. - Do we know if ep 4 (the bonus ep that comes with the deluxe edition) is supposed to be a fully fledged episode btw? Or just an extra scene or two with Max? Whilst it would seem a little dodgy to lock a full, proper episode behind a deluxe edition, it'd be sad to think that episode 3 will essential be the last otherwise.

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

It's not a fully fledged episode. They haven't said exactly what it IS, but they've said it isn't that. It's just something nice for the fans. I doubt they'll announce a boxed LE till it's out, so I'm hoping it's not too long after episode 3 I'm sad BTS is only 3 episodes long though, as I feel with this story it could pretty much just run and run at this point.

Our choices are reeeeal similar on this one, which is pretty cool to see. I definitely thought this was the stronger of the two, and one of the stronger of the whole franchise (on a random note, as someone who does acting I ADORED the play, and Rachel's speech on how it leaves you afterwards is so true). I'm really curious to see where episode 3 will go, since I've genuinely no idea at this point - just that where it seems to be going is where it CAN'T go. It's really nice Deck Nine have managed to leave me like that so close to the end

I also really adore how the game is so similar yet so different from LIS1. It's almost the positivity to counterbalance the tragedy in some ways, and I think the format works incredibly well without the time power - I'm basically not even using backtalk much, or being aggressive when I do, because I don't think Chloe is in that place at this point in time, and it's really refreshing to be able to choose to play that way.

I also think that when I've finished BTS and come to replay LIS1, I'll actually play it in an entirely different way now. They've added a lot of context to stuff in the first game, and done it pretty seamlessly, and now the way I played LIS1 seems less realistic and correct given that context. For example, I absolutely couldn't ship Max and Chloe now, after seeing how Max treated her and how she is with Rachel - which is a huge change in my canon, so I'm really keen to see how the changes leave my canon when I play with them in mind.

I also think that it's awesome how in 2 episodes they've basically changed my mind so that Chloe is the main character of both games, and Max is more a supporting role. They've done an amazing job of making her identifiable, likeable, and relatable, and I'm more invested in her right now than I am Max in the grand scheme of things. Can't wait for episode 3 - this game makes me so hella happy!!!

Also, new wallpaper - and the main pic showing off where my screenshot effort went haha

"Perhaps this is what I have always wished for since that day. The loss and destruction of all. That's right, one must destroy before creating. In that case, if my conscience becomes a hindrance to me, then I will simply erase it. I have no other choice but to move forward....therefore!" - Lelouch vi Britannia/Zero, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch

Anubis wrote:It's not a fully fledged episode. They haven't said exactly what it IS, but they've said it isn't that. It's just something nice for the fans. I doubt they'll announce a boxed LE till it's out, so I'm hoping it's not too long after episode 3 I'm sad BTS is only 3 episodes long though, as I feel with this story it could pretty much just run and run at this point.

The Steam description of it says you play as a ‘young Max Caulfield’ & that it's called ‘Farewell’. I'm assuming from that that it's self-contained & covers Max moving away. Shame that it's not a fully fledged ep, though with that being said, I'm not sure I could easily go back to playing as Max now anyway, if I'm completely honest. I know exactly what you mean when it comes to replaying the first season again. A lot of things have been put into perspective with BTS and I know when I come to replay LiS it will be with a very different view point and choices.

Sad that we've only got one more episode with Chloe & Rachel. Realistically, they can only cover so much time in a prequel but I think they could probably have stretched to 5 episodes like the first season, or at least 4. At this point in the story (and with only 1 episode left) it seems like they have a lot of ground left to cover & I'm not really sure what to expect from that either tbh. Good that it's not so predictable! It's going to be pretty bittersweet going into ep 3 though as you're right, the story can't go where it seems to be going, and we know they don't get the happy ending we'd like for them

Good to see that our choices were very similar on this one too! I also loved the play (I'd say that & the tabletop game are two of the best scenes in the series tbh), and whilst I couldn't relate (as an actor) to what Rachel was saying afterwards, I could definitely relate as an audience member.

As someone who suffers with pretty bad anxiety irl, I always get anxious when going out to a show but coming away from one? She's bang on about the adrenaline rush taking over. No more nerves (for the most part at least), and just the high which usually keeps me up for the rest of the night heh.

Fingers crossed for an early Dec release for episode 3 anyway! Would be nice to be able to take into account all 3 episodes when thinking of GOTY rankings

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

The inclusion of Photo Mode (though they need to allow the camera to be pulled back further, I used a custom tool)

At the same time as the sidequests being a positive for me, they would also be my main negative. I loved how many of them had several steps to them and whilst some of them did have had a nice bit of story attached to them, there are a lot of them in the game and they got very samey after a while. Investigate this area, rescue this prisoner etc. After so many hours (albeit 20+hrs or so) I was mainly focusing on the main story missions, whilst maybe doing a couple sidequests if their markers happened to be close by. I stopped trying to clear areas of quests when I came upon them like I tend to do in other games.I hope that for the next game they'll cut the number of those down a bit (quality over quantity) and flesh them out a bit more so they're a little more varied. One thing I have always loved with The Witcher games (especially 3) is that you could play some sidequests/arcs and easily mistake them for main quests in the way they are presented. I'd love to see that in future AC titles. They're on the right track though and I hope they stick with this new type of AC for future games.

Can't say I had many other complaints with the game tbh (off the top of my head). Didn't experience any bugs, performance was decent enough.. I do still miss the modern day segments though (Origins has some ofc, but they've never been the same since Desmond)

There's still room for improvement here but Origins is a return to form (imo) and one of the best installments in the series.

(Not sure what I'm gonna play next, tis a choice between The Evil Within 2, Wolfenstein 2 & CoD:WWII)

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

The Okami art style is pretty cool. Not seen art like that in anything I've played for a while now!

"Perhaps this is what I have always wished for since that day. The loss and destruction of all. That's right, one must destroy before creating. In that case, if my conscience becomes a hindrance to me, then I will simply erase it. I have no other choice but to move forward....therefore!" - Lelouch vi Britannia/Zero, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch

Anubis wrote:The Okami art style is pretty cool. Not seen art like that in anything I've played for a while now!

The art direction is something I've always loved with Okami - it's timeless. Sure, it's a HD remaster but with most games you can still tell that it's an older game even when resolutions & what not have been updated; whether that's the character models, textures, gameplay or controls feeling dated etc, you still know it's a remaster of an older game. Okami doesn't really have that problem. The art never ages, the gameplay still feels current and unique, and you could quite easily play it today and mistake it for a proper new release tbh. Journey is quite similar in that respect. It's a beautiful game & it's so, so good to finally have it on PC

Couple more:

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

It was a tough choice (one of the hardest in the series tbh), and one that I sat on for quite a while before making it. I could have argued for either option really, but ultimately decided to tell her the truth. Chloe isn't aware (like the player is) that Rachel's days are numbered but I didn't want to destroy the trust she had in me by lying to her (and knowing that she hates lies too), and felt she deserved to know the whole truth, however much it hurt, and that it should have been her choice to make as to whether she would forgive her father or not or come to understand that he was trying to protect her. Whether hiding that from her would have protected her in the short term or not, there's no saying she wouldn't have found out the truth at a later date and known that I too had lied to her.

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

I felt it was an incredibly strong episode personally, and it really confirmed for me that BTS has been better than the original. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and incredibly sad it's finished now (Farewell episode aside). I really hope Deck Nine get to do more with the franchise as they've done such a good job!

Looks like we're pretty split this time bud in terms of similar and different choices.

One of the things I really liked about the episode, which the choice screens confirmed for me, is how I was suspicious all the way through about how my choices were impacting the game. Like, I KNEW you could convince Sera to meet Rachel even though I failed, and there was no "choice point". Likewise, I knew you must be able to play D&D at the hospital again, but I had no option. This for me is something that's way better than the original game, as in the original you could almost always rewind in the moment to switch the choice - the events were so often defined "in the moment".

The D&D being playable is, in my head, clearly influenced by whether or not your survived the first campaign, and Sera is clearly influenced by the learnings you've picked up from the dreams of William. Those are things that have been built up over the whole game, so you NEED to replay a lot to change them. That's much more realistic and true to life imo - decisions that affect important things are usually a culmination of events.

For me, like you I felt the ending choice was probably the hardest I can remember. I found the Bae/Bay choice in LIS1 to be really simple, as it was just obvious to me that she'd pick Bae (though BTS has now changed my opinion of Chloe and Max to the point I'm not sure I'd make that choice again now). This decision had real gravitas and I had to really stop and think for a while about what was the better option and what Chloe would do.

In the end I chose to hide it from her because of William. I don't know how your interactions with him had gone, but mine had all led up to the realisation that he wasn't the perfect dad she pictures, and no-one ever is. I had this scene with him, on the way to the mill, where they talked a lot about lies and what Rachel's dad had done. And there was a very poignant realisation that everybody lies, and they lie to protect others and to protect their relationships that mean something to them. I felt that was a very true sentiment, and as much as I wanted to tell Rachel the truth and show her dad up for the dick he is, I felt Sera was right. It would destroy Rachel and her dad's relationship, and I couldn't bring myself to do that. We saw how destructive Rachel could be when her support network was crumbling around her - if it all truly failed, how high would the fire burn? Remember, the firefighters outside her room were talking about how the fire finally burnt itself out JUST AS she reconciled with her dad. I don't think that was coincidence.

She may hate lies, but lies are a part of life, and can often be forces for good. Chloe had reached the point where she finally understood that, and I think that she'd have used that understanding to protect Rachel from what she's been through for years. Sera was very selfless, and it's very saddening that I suspect she's walking out of the mill and back into either chronic addiction, or suicide. But I'm not sure making the other choice would have changed that at all either...

Also, THAT <censored> ENDING SCENE. I was so happy and satisfied with how things were working out, then they go and show the Dark Room, Damn that was dark. The whole game is such a terribly uplifting tragedy, and has manipulated my emotions beautifully.

11/10

"Perhaps this is what I have always wished for since that day. The loss and destruction of all. That's right, one must destroy before creating. In that case, if my conscience becomes a hindrance to me, then I will simply erase it. I have no other choice but to move forward....therefore!" - Lelouch vi Britannia/Zero, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch

Yeah, I don't know how long I was sat with the 2 choices in front of me but it felt like a while lol. Kept going back and forth as I felt there were good reasons for for both choices but as I say, I went with the truth in the end.With William, I came to the same realisation that even he probably wasn't perfect, and I say probably as I told him that I didn't need to know, but it left that impression on me and I was happy with that knowing it was my choice.Potentially destroying their relationship was what was holding me back from telling the truth quite so easily tbh, though seeing Rachel come to understand why her Dad had kept Sera a secret from her I went with the idea that she'd hopefully be able to do the same with the rest of the info, knowing it was to protect her. Maybe not initially, but over time and with Chloe there to support her with that. It was still a hard decision to make though when it wasn't a sure thing that she would understand & forgive. You make a very good point with the fires though and that's not something I took into consideration when weighing up those choices, I probably should have!

I do wish BtS had been an episode or two longer though, just to cover the full ramifications of that final choice so we had to play through it, not just watch a cutscene summing bits of it up. They could have done that and still ended with the dark room scene as its last shot (which I loved!). That's the only reason I think the first 2 episodes were slightly better as 3's ending felt a bit abrupt because of that, imo.

I'm not sure whether I prefer BtS or the original LiS, still need to let it settle a bit I think. As a whole, I liked the twists & turns of the original more, the cliffhangers were great and it was more fun to speculate what was going to happen next with it being a new IP and the fact that the story could have gone anywhere (which had the added benefit of it being longer than 3 episodes too). BtS was shorter, and being a prequel they were more restricted in that sense. I have really loved watching Chloe & Rachel's relationship grow in BtS (whilst tragic) though and found that in itself quite special and as Chloe has always been my favourite character, playing BtS has only helped reinforce that. Whilst BtS stands on its own two feet just fine, it's thanks to LiS existing in the first place that they can expand those characters & that world and yet BtS has also managed to make us look differently at our choices in that first game by adding to that backstory.

So yeah... kinda loved them both equally atm but maybe I'll come to rate one higher than the other once the dust has settled so to speak. Great job by Deck Nine though and I agree, I hope they get the chance to work on the franchise again in the future

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

If you've exhausted the main game & still looking for more, this DLC basically offers a little more of the same. Otherwise, I'd skip it. It's not bad, but this doesn't really bring anything new to the table and I think the game ends better without it personally. That being said, it gave me an excuse to go play photographer in it again so I'm not complaining lol.

If you've not played the main game yet however, do give it a look. This is not an AC title to overlook

Not sure what I'll be playing next, but probably something outta my backlog I think. My next new release will be the Shadow of the Colossus remake in a couple weeks. One of my all-time favourites so very excited to return to that. Envious of all these people getting to experience it for the very first time with this beautiful looking remake, the lucky buggers!

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Will try to be mindful of what I post of this so as not to spoil too many of the colossi encounters for those of you who have never played it before. If you're one of those people & own a PS4, do yourself a favour & pick this up. The original was and still is one of the greatest games of all time & Bluepoint have done an incredible job remaking it for the PS4. Seeing a whole new audience be introduced to this game via the remake and go on to become fans, who otherwise might never have experienced it, is a wonderful thing to see.Oh, and it's only £24

Hoping they do Ico next!(Though I'd love to see them be given a go at a Silent Hill 2 remake, or Metal Gear Solid)

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.